Sign our Petition to Restore and Protect Lake Memphremagog!
As citizens concerned for the protection and preservation of Lake Memphremagog and its watershed, the NEK’s most valuable natural and economic resource, DUMP is announcing our petition drive to have our lake designated as a “Lake in Crisis”.
We are running this petition drive to compel the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources to designate Lake Memphremagog a “Lake in Crisis”
Restoring Lake Memphremagog’s water quality will:
- Ensure a healthy environment for people and wildlife
- Enhance recreational activities
- Safeguard property values
- Promote tourism
- Benefit the local economy
Many environmental concerns have been identified in Lake Memphremagog, including phosphorus overload, dangerous Cyanobacteria blooms, and established nuisance invasive species. Recently, other environmental indicators threatening the health of the lake have emerged:
- A USGS and Vermont Fish and Wildlife report, released in 2019, identified cancerous lesions in 25-40% of Brown Bullhead fish found in Memphremagog’s South Bay and Hospital Cove and made a direct link between fish with these cancerous lesions and environmentally contaminated water.
- In 2019, sampling of the effluent from the Newport Waste Water Treatment facility (WWTF) by the ANR, showed that levels of the “forever” PFAS chemicals- a proven threat to human and environmental health- were more than three times higher than the ANR standard for PFAS in drinking water. Lake Memphremagog is a drinking water source for 175,000 Quebec citizens, and a habitat for fish and wildlife on both sides of the border. PFAS chemicals are proven to have carcinogenic and other negative health effects.
Climate change- record heat and rainfall events- is hastening negative effects of toxic pollution requires more urgent and expanded effort to save our lake. The question is not if, but when, the cumulative environmental damage from all of these threats becomes too great to repair. A Lake in Crisis designation would increase eligibility for resources in addition to those provided by the existing Basin 17 Plan . This could help speed efforts to prevent further degradation of the water quality and, hopefully, remediate environmental contamination that has already occurred.
Restoring Lake Memphremagog’s water quality will not only protect our environment and ensure the health and well-being of all who depend on it, but will enhance recreational use, attract tourism, and support our local economy and a thriving community.
Thank you on behalf of our Crown Jewel of the NEK, Lake Memphremagog.
Read about the harmful impacts of Vermont’s only landfill here.
Please join us in the fight to restore and protect Lake Memphremagog!
(Header photo by Jeff Gerade, 2018)
